


Ordinary

by Jiemme



Category: Free!
Genre: Gen, Happy Birthday Haru!, Haru's thoughts in the bath basically, M/M, Post-Free! Eternal Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 06:25:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7348825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jiemme/pseuds/Jiemme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“There's an old saying my late grandma taught me. When you're ten, they call you prodigy. When you're fifteen, they call you a genius. Once you hit twenty, you're just an ordinary person. About three years until I'm ordinary. I can't wait to be ordinary.”</p><p>Three years had passed, and Haru recalls his words.</p><p>[Happy Birthday, Haruka Nanase!]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ordinary

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a short oneshot I wrote because it's Haruka's birthday! I can't believe this water child is not a child anymore. ;A; I remembered his quote about how he wanted to be ordinary when he hit twenty so... plot bunny was born XD 
> 
> I hope I did some justice for this fic! Forgive me if there are any grammatical errors or if the flow is weird. I'll fix them once I get some sleep! But for now, I hope you guys like the fic :D

He had six hours before his first class starts, and his commute to the university wouldn’t take long as well. After much deliberation within a span of three seconds, Haru treated himself with a long soak in the tub. It had been weeks since he last sat in the water during the morning, since school requirements kept popping up consecutively. Sleepless nights filled with scattered books and cluttered notes dawned into Haru’s college life, and Haru had to deal with waking up later than he intended to. He may have a swimming scholarship in his university, but he had to keep his end of the bargain by doing well in both athletics and academics.

He slipped into the water, feeling its lukewarm embrace glide smoothly on his skin. It was definitely a good day for a warm soak. He allowed his body to stretch out, completely engulfed by clear bathwater. He relaxed his back against the cool surface of the tub, closing his eyes as he finally dipped his head into the shallow watery depth.

_Don't resist the water. Accept its presence._

He exhaled through his nose, feeling bubbles dance on his cheeks before he pulled his head out of the water. His mind had always been clearer in its presence. Though he technically had to be in the water most of the time nowadays, this was still… different.

Quiet. Peaceful. Calming.

Haruka missed the tranquility of just being in the water, whether floating or swimming, just to feel it. Swimming practice in university filled his mind with concern for time, determination for improvement, and thrill for the win. Even though these were now essential thoughts in his path, the part of him that longed for the water and only for the water still remained. Being in the water used to clear his mind or allow him to dwell deeply in his thoughts, but times had changed.

He chuckled to himself, gently throwing his head back to stare at the ceiling. He still wasn’t used to living in this apartment. Iwatobi was miles away now, his feet walking on foreign ground. Tokyo was rowdier and larger with no fixed faces in the crowd every day. He often held Makoto’s hand when they walked through crowds together, especially when the other boy had to cover his nose from puffs of smoke or exposed coughs. But Tokyo was where Makoto chose to study, and Haruka wouldn’t trade the dearest, most constant person in his life for anything else.

He raised his arm from the water, hand reaching out for the cool touch of air as beads of water dripped down back into the tub. He recalled his childhood mostly spent with Makoto. The boy always reached out to him, prominently with words to soothe Haru’s feelings and with his hands to pull Haru out of the water. It was a trivial detail to most, even to Haru back when he was younger, until he realized that the warmth of Makoto’s hand after a swim was his warmth of reassurance – the reassurance that Makoto was there to support him and be with him no matter what, that reassurance that felt like home.

He looked blankly at the wall across him, realizing that Makoto would probably arrive soon and pull him out of the water again.

“I’ll be over tomorrow, Haru-chan!” he had said in a call last night.

“Drop the –chan, already. It doesn’t suit my age,” he had replied flatly.

It had only stirred more excitement from Makoto. “You don’t usually talk about your age,” he had laughed.

“Let’s have dinner together after my swimming practice, Makoto.”

“Okay, Haru.” Makoto’s little giggle made Haru smile. “You sound excited for your birthday.”

Haruka wasn’t, at first. If anything, he thought to take Makoto out because the boy would make a fuss that Haru should celebrate properly.

He was glad that Makoto would the first person he’d see today. But aside from that, his birthday just looked like another ordinary day. Then again, it started more special than other days, considering he now had time to soak in the tub. He would also treat Makoto to a nice restaurant with really good chocolate cakes, since he did save up for it. Honestly, it felt like Makoto was the one having the birthday party.

“I’m turning twenty… huh,” he whispered to himself.

He remembered Nagisa, who bombarded him with texts this morning about how Haruka should send pictures of his ‘birthday party’ (as if Haru would have one anyway). Even though the younger blond was studying in Tokyo too, his university was quite farther than Makoto’s. “Too bad your birthday is on a school day, Haru-chan,” Nagisa had whined in text form. “I can’t cut classes because Gou-chan and Rei-chan will kill me, so let’s meet up on Saturday, ‘kay?”

Gou and Rei had also sent him messages. Rei, who received a scholarship to study in an international university, often sent emails to Haruka and the rest of the original Iwatobi Swim Club with accounts of his new adventures and inquiries on how they were doing. It irked Nagisa that time zones had ruined their team’s completeness in their social media group chat. This morning, Rei had sent Haruka a lengthy greet and a picture of a beautiful pond in his university’s campus. He also asked Haru to send pictures if they all planned to meet for a celebration. Gou, who was studying in the same university as Nagisa, sent him a short, sweet message and asked Haru if she could tag along if he agreed to meeting with Nagisa on the weekend.

Rin also sent him emails in a similar fashion with Rei, detailing his studies in Australia and his great improvement in swimming. When Haru woke up this morning, he noticed an obnoxious, all capital-lettered email with a video attachment from Rin, and he decided to leave that for later. Kisumi, who unfortunately was studying in the same university as Makoto, had also sent Haru a long message filled with smiling emojis, and it took Haru at least a minute to wonder if Makoto had given Kisumi his number. Sousuke, who remained in Iwatobi to study at a local college, sent him a brief but meaningful greet. He had also received short messages on his social media account from old friends like Asahi and Ikuya.

Haru couldn’t help but smile. Maybe his birthday wasn’t so ordinary after all.

He pulled a vivid memory from his second year in high school that reminded him of how he used to think. That day, he was rested in the same position in his old tub, lacking the will to go to school because why go when he could just stay in the water? He was reminiscing his old memories with Rin, Makoto, and Nagisa that time, about how they marveled at his swimming. But despite the expectations on him due to his prowess, Haru had repeated to himself what his late grandmother told him.

“When you're ten, they call you prodigy. When you're fifteen, they call you a genius. Once you hit twenty, you're just an ordinary person. About three years until I'm ordinary. I can't wait to be ordinary.”

_I can’t wait to be ordinary._

It was strange, though, that his first day of being twenty wasn’t going to be ordinary at all. And now, Haruka had doubts on whether he would become ordinary tomorrow or if ordinary could ever be achieved. He even wondered if he still wanted to be ordinary.

As a future professional swimmer, he shouldn’t strive for ordinary. As a friend to select people, his relationships were anything but ordinary.

And for Makoto, he wanted to give him more than just ordinary.

He immersed himself into the water again. His mind was buzzing with too many thoughts.

* * *

 “Haru, you should really lock your door,” came a voice.

He lifted his upper body from the water and met caring, green eyes and a light, tender smile.

“Happy birthday, Haru-chan.”

**Author's Note:**

> (optional omake: since it's not an ordinary day, Makoto lifts Haru up and screams because Haru wasn't wearing his jammers. XD) 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! :D I really, really, really appreciate it! Please don't forget to greet our precious dolphin/water-loving dork a happy birthday!


End file.
